Go.

Everyone, Everywhere

The Bible is clear that God loves everyone, and calls us to go to everyone with the good news of his love, forgiveness, and new life.  

In Matthew 28:19  Jesus said to "go and make disciples of all nations."

2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

Cru is always asking the question, "how do we get to everyone?"

It's why Cru started the high school ministry that God used to lead Dayna and I to Jesus. Another student shared the gospel with Dayna, and I went to an outreach held at the middle school next to my high school.  They came to where we were.

It's why we send staff around the world and why we have ministries in over 180 countries.  And it's why many of those countries are sending staff and students to the least reached locations.

USA Today just ran a story about a small team of Cru staff that are finding ways to reach into the virtual world.  It's a good article.  I don't love the title, but the story is really about going to where people are to introduce Jesus.

Click here to read the article.

Summer Adventures

Dayna and I visited Cara's family in California in late July, and before that I went with Cara and her boys to the Grand Canyon.  It was truly and adventure.  Cara is expecting, and has not been feeling well, so it was nice that we could be with her. (see more below)

Last week we moved Macy into her apartment in Auburn, where she is beginning her masters program and Behavioral Analysis.  She is very excited about the program and loves Auburn so far.

Macy met Aubie

Requesting prayer.

It is very much an honor for us to have your partnership, and for you to share in our calling to ministry with Cru.  We appreciate your prayers for us, and want to ask you to pray with us about a couple of things.

• It’s a long story, but Barrett spent a night in the ER last week after an ocular migraine resulted in some “brain fog” issues for about an hour.  Lots of tests were taken, and more is to come.  He got a new medicine to take. Brain scans found nothing, as expected (haha), but they did find a hole in his heart and will figure out if that needs to be repaired. He has more procedures scheduled to look at that. He is doing well overall.


• Navigating life.  Every stage of life has new ways where each of us need to trust God and learn to walk in the Spirit with new challenges.  Pray for our finances, healthcare decisions, marriage and being parents to our adult children.  

We appreciate your partnership in our ministry, but even more as friends who care about us.  Thank you.  We could not be here without you.

With love and thanks,

PS. here are some fun videos from my time with the boys. They are both pretty silly.

I made an AI song about our Grand Canyon trip and made this video.

June is HOT!

 

It’s hot I know it is hot everywhere this summer, but as I write this we are on our 10th day with a broken AC at our house!  We have two portable units running that cool our kitchen and our bedroom, and the new unit is sitting in our garage.  We hope to have it installed by the time Macy comes home with three friends this weekend, but it has been a long week or so! What we’re up to At Cru, I end up helping in many different ways.  Mainly, I’m still leading change management for our huge HR changes that involve a new HR operating model, a new job framework, and a new Human Capital Management system.  By the way, I named our new HCM the “HR Hub.”  Genius isn’t it?  I even “wrote” a few songs about our new HR.  AI is amazing. You can listen to one here. And a little jingle. I know it's silly and cheesy. Recently I was  asked to help review our internal audit function, so I guess you can say that I get to audit Audit!  More about that in the future. When Cru asked Dayna to renew her nursing license so she could be the nurse at our staff conference, it also opened up doors to use that license to serve the community.  Dayna recently received the “A Team” award for 1,800 hours of volunteering at Shepherd’s Hope, a ministry for those that don’t have health insurance. When Tim, who has been partnering with us for 40 years, was in town recently, he said, “Your job is a lot different than when you were working with students!”  It really is.  It’s wild how many different things we have done with Cru over the years.   But, it does all support those individual conversations about Jesus, and the invitation to know Him, grow in a relationship with Him, and go to tell others about Him.  The HR changes are all about that.  So is audit.  Whatever we have done, it all supports reaching everyone with the gospel. Thanks for partnering with us.  We can’t express how much your faithful friendship and support mean to us.  We can’t be here without you!   With love and thanks,

After our primary goal of getting an AC for the house, we have some other plans for the summer. We are all taking turns visiting Cara and her family.  Luke and Catelin head out for July 4 and Dayna and I will be there later that month.

Milestones

 

Macy’s Graduation

Earlier this month we celebrated with Macy as she graduated from the University of Florida!  She graduated with degrees in Psychology and Criminology, and will be headed to Auburn University to get a Masters in Behavioral Analysis.  We are very proud of her!

Macy set a goal to graduate with the highest GPA of all her siblings.  Unfortunately for them, she did it!

We visited Auburn after she accepted their offer and she has already found a place to live with two other students!

Cru Mission Trips

When Covid hit in 2020-2021, Cru’s mission trips numbers dropped to zero!.  The numbers are coming back with a flourish.

This Spring Break Cru also sent almost 2400 students on 75 short Filters of Hope trips. Click here to read the official report with stories.

We sent students to another 60 locations around the world for other short spring break trips, and 800 students and staff met in Daytona Beach for evangelism and training. Stateside and International summer missions will be launching in June!  These are life changing experiences for students.

Have you ever seen Cru's annual report?  If you love details, you'll love it, and if you love stories, you'll love it.  Take a look at it by clicking on this image.

Thank you for being a part of it all! 

With love,

Guess where we are?  See below

A new HR function for Cru

For the past year I have been helping the process of “re-imagining” how HR works in Cru.  It involves three big changes: a new human capital management (HCM) system, a new job architecture, and a new operating model.  We just hired seven new leaders and our HCM system launches on July 1.

I have been leading the change management process which involves communication and training for our HR staff and all of our staff related to the HCM system.

What’s in a name?

In Cru we have called the HR function “Leadership Development & Human Resources,” or “People & Culture,” depending on which part of Cru it was.  It was an attempt to communicate more of what the function was about.  A year ago there  was also an attempt to rename the new function “People Experience,” but there were some concerns with that name. So, I was asked to run a process to recommend the name for this function. There was a lot of strong feelings around what this re-envisioned function would be called.

We established criteria for the name.  We conducted a survey of over 180 HR & Field staff.  I conducted 5 focus groups to talk about names.  After hours and hours of work, there was one very obvious name.   75% of staff felt favorably about this name, compared to the other options. The winner?

The bottom line is that a name doesn’t determine how people experience the function.  Perception is defined by people’s experience.  What people love is the clarity…”I know what that means.” It removes the necessity of translating another name back to HR. Not everyone loves it, but for most staff, it's simple and makes sense.

This change aims to support the calling of each staff member and the mission of every ministry of Cru more consistently and comprehensively. You can continue to pray for this project because the changes will continue to take place over the next year!

A big trip!

We are thinking of updating our hallway like this.

At the Musee d'0rsay

Our kids helped us take an anniversary trip to Paris in early March to celebrate our 40th anniversary!  It was fun and exciting, but we were challenged!  We walked so much, and we had to deal with some health challenges. We rode buses instead of the metro to avoid stairs, and it worked pretty well, but we had some transportation adventures! It was really nice to be together, just the two of us, to navigate and figure it out together. We came home exhilarated and feeling quite accomplished!

 

Thank you for standing with us.

With love, 

The other half

Lately, I’ve been deep in the weeds of Cru’s HR reorganization.  This is the largest organization-wide change Cru has ever initiated. I’m leading the change management efforts (you have heard that most change efforts fail, right?).  It’s challenging and kind of fun, in a way!

A small team I’m on recently mapped every person’s job in Cru.  We found that about 50% of staff are doing direct ministry roles that win, build and send Christ centered multiplying disciples, or jobs that help others do direct ministry. 

So what do the other half do?  Take a look at how "dthe other half” makes ministry possible.

Sasha,* a young man in Central Asia, comes from a clan of warriors deeply hostile to Christians. In the region where he lives, it is dangerous even to talk about Jesus. Ministry in places like this requires more than courage—it requires wisdom, preparation, and unique approaches.

Trained workers in Sasha’s country have turned to the internet to reach everyone, everywhere. They post social media ads guiding people to short films addressing common feelings of loneliness and inadequacy. These efforts depend on intentional planning, financial stewardship, technology infrastructure, and ongoing support—areas where the “other half” plays a vital role. 

Sasha saw one of the ads and clicked. He watched segments of JESUS and had to know more. Through secure communication channels and careful coordination, he was able to connect with the believers behind the ads and eventually drove five hours to meet them in person.

As Sasha met with them and again heard the Word of God in his heart language, he understood and believed. His life was changed.

When Sasha returned home and shared what had happened, the cost was immediate. His well-known “fighting” clan treated him as a traitor and severely beat him. Yet Sasha would not renounce Jesus.

Sasha returned to the group that had introduced him to Christ. With consistent care, discipleship, and stability—made possible through “the other half” jobs, —he is growing in his faith and healing. He is now determined to see his entire family delivered from the kingdom of darkness.

Stories like Sasha’s remind us that “the other half” jobs are not separate from ministry; it is ministry—ensuring resources are stewarded well, systems function smoothly, and care is available when it’s needed most. When “the other half” is strong, the field is freer to move boldly and wisely.

When you pray and give, you are partnering in this work, Thank you for standing with us.

With gratitude,

Remember the Transformation of our headquarters I led starting in 2020?  The last part of that was finished today when we dedicated the new multipurpose gym/ministry space in what was our warehouse.  This will be used for staff recreation as well as ministry as we bring in teams from the community. It was really great seeing it finished!

40 Years with Cru!

 

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”  Matthew 9:36-38

We made a stop in the DIY video studio

Legacia 2026

There have been 6 Winter Conferences with Cru in January where thousands of students gathered to grow in their faith and learn to share Christ with others.  The conference in Orlando was for Destino, Cru’s ministry with Hispanic students.  I spoke with them briefly to talk about investing their talents in helping people know Jesus, and gave them a quick tour around our HQ. 

40 Years with Cru

February 1  marked our 40th year with Cru.  When we think about what it takes to make this long in ministry, it feels like a miracle.  The idea that we set off at 23 years old saying that we want to reach students for Christ, and then make it through 40 years of the emotional, spiritual and financial challenges of ministry, raise 5 children, send them to college and somehow still stay married seems kind of unbelievable, but here we are!

What is equally amazing is that for some of our partners, this year also marks 40 years journeying with us.  Our friends started with us in Ohio, more joined from Minnesota, and even last month some newer friends we’ve met have joined our team. Thank you for being part of this miracle.  

Believe me.  We have many flaws, but we are grateful God has chosen to use us to help people come to know Jesus.

 

Thank you for standing with us. With love, 

Quick updates:

• Dayna and I had our 40th wedding anniversary on December 21, and we plan to celebrate in March with a trip, just the two of us!

• We had the whole family+ together for a weekend in January.  It was fun and packed!

• Please continue to pray for Catelin. She has some skin complications that are concerning.

Let's start a new year

"If 2025 were a drink, it would be a colonoscopy prep." 

Last year had its challenges, for sure, so we are glad to be onto a new year!

Our own candlelight Christmas Eve service!

As a quick update, Catelin's recovery is going as expected.  Today she is 4 weeks into her recovery and yesterday at her PT appointment all her concerns were answered with, "That's normal."

This Friday night Cara's family from California will join us and I've counted...we will have 13 people in our house! We are really looking forward to having everyone together.

As we step into a new year, we want to pause and reflect on some of the ways God was at work in 2025.  We have a couple of fun stories, and some graphs that illustrate how God is working through Cru's campus ministry.

Disney World, Orlando, FL

Did you know that Cru has a ministry team dedicated to reaching the thousands of college-aged young adults who work at Disney World? It’s a unique mission field—and God is at work there. Here’s one story from that team.

Jia* (name changed) moved from East Asia to the West Coast of the United States. After arriving, she connected with a Cru staff member who faithfully met with her for two years—planting and watering seeds of faith. When Jia later shared that she would be moving to Orlando to work at Disney, that same staff member connected her with Cru’s Disney ministry team.

Although Jia was open to exploring Jesus, her spiritual conversations had never gone very deep. Then one evening at a hot pot restaurant, she shared honestly, “I don’t know how to connect with God. I’m trying, but I can’t.” One of the Cru staff members present asked, “Can we share with you how?”

For two hours, crowded together on one restaurant bench, they shared how only Jesus can restore our honor and relationship with God. Jia read the prayer from Honor Restored (a version of the Four Spiritual Laws) first in her own language, and then again out loud in English. When asked if she meant it, she replied, “Yes!”—and everyone broke into tears of joy.

“I’m so emotional,” Jia said, “and I think it’s because I’m feeling God’s love.” Praise God for bringing Jia on this long journey—from Asia, to the western United States, to Orlando—where she began her relationship with Jesus.

The Gambia

The Gambia is a nation that is 97% Muslim. Last year, Cru celebrated 35 years of ministry in The Gambia. Here’s one powerful story from that work.

One day, a woman named Aisha* (name changed) walked wearily home to her village when she came across a rare public showing of the JESUS film. She stopped in surprise—the film was being shown in Jola, her mother tongue. Hearing her own language, Aisha sat down to watch and listen.

The message was revolutionary: God loved her. Jesus is the Son of God. He died for her, offering forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Aisha went home, prayed, and received Christ—becoming a new creation.

Now she faced a difficult step: telling her husband, Omar. In her culture, becoming a Christian is considered a betrayal. Omar listened quietly, then responded unexpectedly: “If you choose to be a Christian, I want to listen to what you heard.”

They found one of the Cru team members, who showed the JESUS film to Omar in private. He too was deeply moved by the truth of the gospel and placed his faith in Christ.

Aisha soon began traveling from house to house, showing the JESUS film on a video tablet she had been given. In this highly resistant context, she has planted 15 churches and continues to grow in faith and influence.

U.S. Campus Ministry

Finally, you may have heard reports that young people in the United States are more spiritually open than they have been in recent history—and those reports are true! Here are three graphs that illustrate this growing spiritual hunger.

The yellow line in the graph above shows the exponential growth in students who hear the gospel through personal evangelism and then indicate a decision to follow Jesus.

This chart shows that the percentage of students who hear the gospel and respond by choosing to follow Jesus has steadily increased over the past five years.

Another indicator of spiritual interest is retreat attendance. This fall’s weekend retreats saw the highest attendance in recent history. Registrations for our Winter Conferences—some happening right now—are also up. 

These numbers reflect lives changed and impacted by the gospel.  This four minute video highlights the long term impact that Cru has had on students' lives well after they leave college.

Thank you for your faithful partnership. We can't be here without you.  We are deeply grateful for you, and we pray the Lord’s blessing on you as we begin 2026!